Vertebrate Pest Handbook Book, 3rd ed: Questions & Answers on Rats and Mice

The Vertebrate Pest Handbook, 3rd edition, is a revision of Dr. Austin Frishman's 2nd edition published in 1999. The revision retains his question and answer format but narrows the scope to commensal rodents, brown rats (aka. Norway rats, Rattus norvegicus), house mice (Mus musculus), deer and white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus, and Peromyscus maniculatus) and roof rats (aka. black rats, Rattus rattus). Pest control operators (PCOs), pest management professionals (PMPs, public health professionals, and wildlife control professionals (WCOs) looking to test their knowledge or have questions for in-house company training, will find this book a helpful addition to training resource materials. This book was revised to achieve several goals: • to serve as a handy reference for anyone engaged in vertebrate pest control without overwhelming readers with excessive detail, • to aid both Pest Management Professionals (PMPs), Wildlife Control Operators (WCOs) and people from the Board of Health in training new personnel, • to assist professionals in answering customer questions, • to compile a compendium of facts to guide one's working knowledge of commensal rodents, • to provide test questions for supervisors and managers of PMPs and WCOs who wish to train new and experienced employees, and • to stimulate all to think before they undertake a commensal rodent control program.

Stephen M. Vantassel has been involved with vertebrate pest management since the 1980s. He provides training, research, writing, and expert witness help through his website at https: //wildlifecontrolconsultant.com . You can also listen to his podcast "Living the Wild Life" which discusses all aspects of vertebrate wildlife damage management at https: //rumble.com/c/c-296201. Stephen holds the ACE (associate certified entomologist) certification and the CWCP, (Certified wildlife control professional) certification. He presently works as the vertebrate pest specialist for the Department of Agriculture in a U.S. state.